Your friend is on the wrong road in life, but at least she’s finally honest enough to admit which road she’s on. Then encourage her to have the same honesty about the life she’s living, and the consequences she’ll face if she continues with it.

Ladell Flowers’ father brought Dismas House, a state-certified, faith-based addiction treatment for substance abusers, to Kansas City in 1972. Because of marijuana, Flowers flunked out of college. Then he went back and got three degrees.

After 45 years of gracing the Sunday paper each week, the Kansas City Star Magazine takes a farewell bow today, but the spirit of mag stories — the deep profiles, the quirky stories, the gorgeous photos — is not going away.

“You have got to meet this woman!” Bonnie Ciezki’s friend said, rushing over. “She looks like you, talks like you and has tattoos like you.” It was August 2010, and Bonnie, 37, was attending a geocaching picnic in Shawnee Mission Park. Her friend introduced Bonnie to 42-year-old Dyana Bishop. As Bonnie and Dyana talked, they found much in common.

DEAR JEANNE AND LEONARD: Friends have invited my sister to a “fundraiser spaghetti feed” to raise money for their daughter. The “door charge” is $20 per person, and there also will be a raffle and a silent auction. It seems that “Taylor,” who is 20, needs $8,200 for tuition and expenses to enroll in a program where she will earn a certificate as a dog obedience instructor. To me, this event is terrible on every level.

If you don’t mind veering off the beaten path a little, we have some ideas. We dispatched Kansas City Star writers in every direction to find some of the odder attractions in Missouri and Kansas. Some of these places might not be your final destination, but then again, if you like quirky, they could be. And several are right here in the Kansas City area.

Star Magazine

The Kansas City Star Magazine would not be much without its stories. So we asked current and former staffers to share their fondest memories about their work for the magazine, which ceases publication with the Feb. 22, 2015 issue.

Since 1984, Charlie Podrebarac’s “Cowtown” strip with its distinctly Kansas City flavor has appeared in Star Magazine. With the mag ceasing print publication, you can find his strips online at GoComics.com/Cowtown.

Nicole Hodges Persley of Kansas City is an assistant professor of theater at the University of Kansas and is directing “A Raisin in the Sun,” which will run from Feb. 27 to March 8 in the Crafton-Pryor theater at the school.

In 2002, TV anchor Elizabeth Alex planned to return to Romania but instead had to fly to New Orleans to cover Hurricane Katrina. When Alex Drescanu, her local translator, realized she wasn’t coming, he felt bereft. He called her and said, “I miss you.”

That night Thaylia Smith wrote on her calendar, “Drummer sat at table.” She continued to attend the late-night sessions at Jardine’s Restaurant and Jazz Club, and she and Patrick Conway got to know each other.

That evening in October 1994, Greg Smith noticed a nice-looking guy at the bar. But alas, a young man was seated next to him. Meanwhile, Rick Harris was trying to signal to Greg that the young man was not his date.